16 September 2003 | Approved: 21 October 2003
HPC members present: Bob Booher, Chair, Chris Kirtz, and David Neumann.
The September 16, 2003 meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission began at 7:05 p.m. with the approval of the agenda. The Chair asked David Neumann to take minutes.
Open items from the last meeting
Approval of the minutes of the last meeting was postponed to our meeting in October due to unusual circumstances surrounding the last meeting. The discussion of Design Guidelines begun by Larry French were postponed. The Discussion of the Rules of Procedure were also postponed again. There was some discussion of the timing of the meetings. After considerable discussion it was concluded that the timing of the HPC meetings should only be determined by the date when the Town Bulletin is issued. It was concluded that the date of the HPC meeting is independent of the date of the Planning Commission meeting. This is due to the fact that the PC appoints a member of the PC to review Building permits and such review is therefore not tied to the date of the PC meetings. It was moved by the Chair that the meetings be held on the third Tuesday after the first Monday of every month. This was seconded by Neumann and approved unanimously. It was also concluded that due to the timing given in the ordinances we should try to provide the certificates of review within 15 days of the meeting in which we discuss the permit application. To accomplish this we need to have one member, currently Chris Kirtz, review applications prior to our meeting to make sure that the material submitted is sufficient and to alert us to the pending review.
Other Work Session Items
The Commissioners discussed the issue of amending the National Historic Register Application. As the original application of 1978-79 did not include the area now know as the "Casey" tract, which had historically been part of the original area of Washington Grove until its sale, it was felt that the application should be reconsidered to include this rural farm area of the Grove. David Neumann moved that we investigate amending the Historic District to include the rural farm area originally belonging to the entire tract from which the Washington Grove was created. This motion was seconded by Chris Kirtz and unanimously approved. As a first step we agreed that the Maryland Historic Trust should be contacted to determine what such an amendment process would entail. The chair explained that an expert was available to perform the research needed. It was agreed that funds probably existed in the Town budget to cover a contract to provide the necessary written assessment or report to the HPC. The transmission of minutes and certificates of review to the Town Web Master, Bill Saar, was also discussed. We discussed how the permit reviews or certificates of review would be indexed on the Town Web site. Neumann suggested that they be indexed by the property address, but that they be listed on a Web page by date. Thus the page would contain two columns: date and address. The order would be by date. When someone clicks on the address of a review, then that review would come up for the user to read.
Public Review Session
The Challstroms submitted plans for a building permit for their residence at 503 McCauley Street. The question was raised by Neumann whether their renovations to the structure would be visible from a road or avenue in the Town. It was decided that despite the fact that (a) the renovation will be visible from primarily from only 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue and (b) those roads are not maintained by the Town, we should still review the plans. It was also found that the renovations would be slightly visible from McCauley Street and from the property of the neighbors to the West. The review was discussed and Chris Kirtz volunteered to write the certificate of review.
Public Work Session
Discussed the Appleby demolition.
We discussed the importance of photographic documentation. It was moved by Neumann and seconded by Kirtz that the HPC contact Jerry Trescott to do an oral history and historic evaluation of the Rynex house and its immediate surroundings. The vote was unanimous.
Other Business
The Commission examined the calendar and decided that its next meeting would be on the third Tuesday in October, on October 21st. The chair moved that we adjourn.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.